Hiking

From hydration packs for day hikes to trekking poles for a thru-hike, GearJunkie covers all the gear for a safe and comfortable ramble.

Heated Boots Fail To Impress

Columbia’s heated boots, powered by lithium-polymer batteries, are touted to provide the “warmth of a furnace.” Our test found this to be far from the…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Free USGS Topo Maps

Your guide to the free downloading of 1:24,000-scale USGS topo maps. Go forth taxpayer! Enter into the public domain. And download at will.

Written by Stephen Regenold

Columbia Heated Boots

Heated boots have long been a Holy Grail. Columbia continues on the quest with its heated men’s and women’s boot models.

Written by Stephen Regenold

Wenger Nomad Compass Watch

You’ll be the best-looking navigator in the city with Wenger’s high-end Nomad Compass, a $375 timepiece enclosed in a stainless steel case with black and…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Review: Leki Trekking Poles

Leki’s ergonomic hand grips, like what’s found on the Thermolite AERGON Antishock model, help set the trekking poles apart from the competition.

Written by Stephen Regenold

Ribz Frontpack

In the world of backpacks, there is a niche category of products that positions compartments and pouches over the chest. The RIBZ Frontpack is a…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Rand McNally fabMAP

Take a microfiber lens cloth and print a map on it. That’s essentially what Rand McNally did with its fabMAP products, a cartographical collection featuring…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Hi-Tec V-Lite Altitude Ultra

Waterproof-breathable boots are nothing new in the outdoors industry. But Hi-Tec has partnered with a U.K.-based defense company on its latest leather boots to incorporate…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Gear Review — Buddy-Board

“Is your life worth 30 seconds?” That’s the question posed by Buddy-Board LLC on the packaging of its namesake product, a dry-erase board made for…

Written by Stephen Regenold

SteriPEN JourneyLCD Review

I spent part of last evening zapping helpless microorganisms swimming in tepid water. But it’s ok, the little suckers were trying to make me sick.…

Written by Stephen Regenold

SPOT Satellite Messenger

I blogged on this last week in my OR Show wrap-up, but the PLB-like device deserves a bit more attention. Indeed, the SPOT Satellite Messenger…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Hikin’ the Ice Age Trail

Check out my story in today’s (Friday, Oct. 27) New York Times on the Ice Age Trail, a National Scenic Trail established by Congress in…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Mora knives

More than 100 years ago, in the rural Swedish village of Ostnor, just outside of the well-known town of Mora, a knifesmith named Erik Frost…

Written by Stephen Regenold

The Thumb Compass Review

The thumb compass is a funny little esoteric piece of gear that’s slowly earned my respect over the past few months. I was first introduced…

Written by Stephen Regenold

Brunton SolarRoll Review

Brunton’s SolarRoll products are flexible plastic sheets with embedded solar paneling made for powering electronic equipment deep in the wilderness. The rolls weigh less than…

Written by Stephen Regenold

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